Kang

A camera guide for you

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

This is what food blogging looks like. Today, he is trying an experiment, by training his antiquated film camera on a plate of cheese and fruit all the while bobbing to tunes streamed from the internet to his touch sensitive media device that can also make calls, sometimes. (more…)

Tags: camera, guide, introduction, new template
Posted in Blog, Camera Equipment, left | 4 Comments »

My Leicas.

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

So what the hell has been going on in my life so far? Well, I have only just finished a food related commission and I think the client was quite happy with the results. I am anxious to see what they will use my photography for, in the mean time it’s all still underwraps. At the moment, I am switching focus to my next photo assignment, it’s something I don’t quite have much experience in since I mainly produce for web. I have been commissioned create a set of prints to fill a restaurant wall. It should prove to be an interesting challenge. I’m going to use Metro Imaging for the printing.

Anyway, aside from work, I have actually been gearing up (quite literally) for a coming vacation to Asia. I expect to travel light, and so the bulk of my D700 will not be welcomed. So in my never ending quest for imaging perfection versus compactability, I have finally decided to sink my (now non-existent) savings into a Leica system. Leica M8 Chrome and a Leica M6 Classic Black for bodies. Lenses include a Leica 35mm f2.0 summicron ASPH (coded) and a Leica 90mm f2.0 summicron Type II. Both cameras were bought second hand from two of the best Leica dealers in London, namely R.G. Lewis and Aperture Photographic. If you are interested in used kit, I personally recommend these guys as I trust them, great service too. Ok, first of all, Leicas are the legendary cameras which street photography heroes including Frank, Cartier-Bresson and Winogrand had used to create their classic prints, so the reputation of this relatively small German company definitely precedes itself. Mainly it is down to the lenses, as many claim that Leica glass have a signature ‘glow’ which other brands do not seem to exhibit. Leicas are fascinating cameras and are unique in that they are one of the last bastions of rangefinder photography. Yes, that’s right, Leicas are not Single Lens Reflex cameras, they are rangefinders. The salient differences being that the photographer frames and focuses via a separate view/rangefinder (ie: you do not see through the lens) ; while in SLRs, the photographer frames through the lens (Ie: you see what the lens sees). And because the viewfinder is separate to the lens, rangefinder cameras are much smaller in size, since there is no need for a prism and a mirror to deflect light from the lens to the viewfinder….. I realise I’m bad at explaining this, do google it. With a smaller body and a lens element much closer to the film/sensor, lenses can then be designed much smaller. No mirror also means less noise (no mirror slap) and this makes the entire package a stealth machine fit for the streets (well..). With Leicas, the mystique that surrounds this brand makes it a little special for gearheads such as myself – the cameras are also sculpted with clean, sleek lines and are simply exceptional sex machines.

Anyway, let’s have a look at the digital M8 first… I don’t fetch enough commission work to afford the M9, if I could, ohh….

So here we have Leica’s first digital rangefinder, which was released in 2006 – the M8. It has a 1.33x 10MP Kodak CCD sensor and very crucially, it does not have an Anti-Aliasing filter in front of the sensor, giving rise to much clearer and sharper RAW files.

Couple the AA-less sensor with a Leica lens, and you have an extreme compact digital imaging system. I’ve been shooting with it for a week now and at base ISO160, the M8 really sings. As amazing as my D700/35f1.4AIS is, the Leica outfit beats it outright, right from the sharpness wide open to the smooth bokeh. Leica glass is just in a different league to the Nikkors. Not to say that the Nikkors are bad, its just that Leicas are that much better.

The Leica M8, unfortunately is not perfect. It has a weak IR filter in front of the sensor, so that means that sometimes, blacks look purple. Its a problem easily rectified by using a UV/IR filter, though for everyday shooting without the filter, you’ll hardly see the difference. Another issue – it’s bad at high ISO. You can go to ISO640 and that’s about it. Anything above that is frankly laughable, especially in 2010 photography when you have digitals such as the D3s producing clean prints at up to ISO102,400. The centre weighted metering is overly enthusiastic and in my experience, it approximately overexposes between 0.3 and one stop. You cannot shoot strong light sources in a darkish surrounding because you’ll get weird streaky lines, and at ISO 640 and above, you can throw the image away. And the shutter is really, really loud. I am tempted to send it to Solms to get the shutter upgraded to the quieter M8.2 shutter, but which will rob it of it’s super fast 1/8000th speed. However, in spite of all these niggling issues, when exploited correctly, it really delivers true Leica quality.

The M8 is not very ergonomic in that you will miss the film rewind lever from the film Ms. Luckily, there are accessories which emulate the film rewind lever feel to improve handling and balance. I am of course referring to the Thumbs Up grip, designed by Tim Isaac, and clips on to the back of the top plate. The jutting hilt allows you to rest your thumb on it and this really improves overall handling as you could ‘hang on’ to the camera with your thumb, whereas without it, it would simply slip out of your hands. Now since I cannot really use this camera at High ISO, I’ll have to depend on fast lenses and steady hands to nail sharp images without camera shake. Enter the soft release button that screws onto the shutter release and when mastered it should allow handholding to about 1/8s… I suspect only really applies to wide angles up to say 35mm; anything longer, I still think one needs higher shutter speeds. In my case, my 90mm certainly needs at least 1/60s – anything slower is blurry.

Ok, so that’s the Leica M8, so far I love it. I agree with many things that Steve Huff has written about in his review, so I’m not really going in any more detail. I buy cameras to make photographs, if the photographs come out looking great, then the camera is a useful tool. If it cannot create images to my needs, then its just useless. Thankfully, the Leica M8 gives me the images I need, and more importantly, gives me the portability and discreetness to shoot the type of photography I do. Plus it’s a sexy beast, what’s not to love?

Ok let’s now move on to the film Leica M6 Classic…. oh if the M8 is Jennifer, this is Angelina.

A true Leica M. Shutter speeds from 1s to 1/1000th , 0.72x viewfinder, machined zinc/chrome alloy, black, cloth shutter and a Tom Abrahamsson soft release … this is a real camera. The operation is simple and elegant, the sound of the tripped shutter with the melodic gears in motion are as smooth as a Debussy composition. It is just so romantic in the way it captures images, and I have never used a camera in which the act of making a photograph is so pleasurable.

I am in the process of acquiring a changing bag and a paterson film spool so I can develop some tri-x at home, at the moment, I’ve loaded Portra 400NC film in it. I am going to use this camera to create a 365 flickr project, should prove to be quite a fun exercise, well, it already is.

Anyway, I think I’ve blabbered on long enough, I love my leicas and will post some photographs I have taken with them, particularly a street photography project of some sort… but in the meantime, the obligatory self portrait with the Leica..

Tags: 35mm, 90mm, leica m6, leica m8, summicron
Posted in Blog, Camera Equipment | 3 Comments »

Polaroid Pogo Limited Edition Moleskine : Printing Mad.

Monday, January 18th, 2010

So I was reading a David du Chemin book – within the frame – the other day and learnt that on his photo adventures around the world, he usually carries with him a tiny polaroid pogo print to make instant prints as gifts to locals whenever he asks to shoot an impromptu portrait of someone in a foreign country. It uses Zink (Zero Ink) technology that can print on the go via a USB cable attached to the digital camera. Very mindful of my coming 3.5 week grand tour around Asia coming next month, I thought it was a good idea to invest in a pocketable printer, but never really thought too hard about it….

… until I saw the limited edition Pogo printer that comes with a custom limited Moleskine… drool. I had to buy it, how could I not, right?

Yes, I am also a huge, huge fan of moleskines, and until very recently am totally fascinated with their custom editions. There are all kinds of amazing custom jobs, anything ranging from a commissioned musuem notebook through to bespoke company gifts with special embossed logos, moleskines are hot; moleskines with custom jobs on them are just straight fire. I recommend having a look on their official website here.

I found this gem while I was browsing at the Photographer’s Gallery bookshop, not cheap at £80 and it is part of the Pola Premium put together by The Impossible GmbH, an organisation which is working very closely with Polaroid to bring back the vintage instant film again. While I was at Photographer’s Gallery, I also invested in some reconditioned polaroid film too , the 125i Silk to be exact…. even though I don’t have a polaroid camera to use the film on, just the thought of owning a piece of history (in beautiful packaging nonetheless…) was nice to know.

Right then, on to the product itself – so the pogo printer is meant to bring the instant feedback of the polaroid to the digital photographer. It plugs into any digital camera with a USB plug and is PictBridge compatible and is suppose to then print your photographs instantly. This particular package which I have bought is as I said, a special Pola Premium edition. The moleskine which comes with it is really lush. Intended to be an album (foldable Japanese style) where you can stick your Zink prints on to keep forever. This special edition comes with an Edwin Land belly band and an ultra cool blue Pola Premium embossed logo on the hard cover. Ohh… I love it. That’s another moleskine to add to my collection. (next is the national gallery little redbook) As for the printer itself, well it certainly is portable alright, it measures about the same as a 6×4 print, and is made of metal so it feels solid, but rather light as well. The battery takes about 6 hours to charge fully, and when it is fully charged only makes between 8 to 11 prints.

Anyway, so I fired up the first few 2×3 prints… and I’m afraid to say that results aren’t stunning. Though they are comparable to the quality of the digital photo sticker things you find in Asia… but it is definitely not ‘photographic’ quality and no where near a real polaroid (not that this was ever intended to be). Although, conceptually speaking, the results are good enough for the sheer portability and instant gratification of it. And when I say instant, boy is it 21st century instant. The printer also communicates via bluetooth and that means that I can send any photo from my blackberry (or any bluetooth device) to the printer and it would print instantly… no wires, magic. So what I did was open up a picture via my internet browser on my blackberry, surf on to an image which I wanted and then sent it to the pogo printer. Two minutes later, I had a 2×3 sticker ready to go into my notebook. That’s magic.

Anyway, it’s a cool device, and the sheer instant feedback has got my creative juices all flowing as to what I can do with these prints. While it may not be technically perfect; the prints do carry a certain look about it, albeit unsharp, with vertical banding lines running down one side, etc, but for some sort of small scale photo project, say a bespoke moleskine photobook of some sort, it could prove to be enticing. So anyway, that’s the seed of an inspiration…. for now. I’ll put the moleskine to good use and hopefully in combo with the pogo printer, make a little print project fit to entertain.

Watch this space….. oh and if you have been iffy about the pogo, I personally recommend it… but with a warning. Firstly, the battery life sucks because you need to recharge after 10 prints (because Zink uses alot of heat to ‘bring out the picture’ from the paper) and don’t expect the technical quality of the print itself to be a tack sharp 2×3 c-type print, because it just won’t be. It’s a fun device, it can make instant sticker prints which can go anywhere and that’s why I like it.

Tags: moleskine, pogo, printing
Posted in Blog, Camera Equipment, right | No Comments »

I’m a gearhead.

Friday, January 1st, 2010

And pop goes the cherry. This series of photographs was taken from my window at midnight on New Years Day, 2010. It would appear that my neighbours had decided to create their own little fireworks display. Of course, we had the London eye fireworks on TV, but when something so colourful was happening in – literally – our own backyard, we turned off all the lights to watch the show. It was brief, about a couple of minutes, but man was it fun. I should go thank my neighbour for the fireworks display. Hello 2010 and here’s to a fantastic new year, hooray.

I’m sure everyone has their shopping plans etched out for the months ahead, and you know I’ve got plenty. As much as I love spending my money on food, I tend to devote a large chunk of my life savings to photography equipment. At work, me and my colleague call ourselves gearheads. I shoot food, he shoots churches, but we’ll only shoot our major subjects of interests with the latest Nikon digital bodies, any less, and it’s a toy camera. Haha, oh man, I’m a camera snob, I should be ashamed of myself. I love gadgets I have to admit, I do wish I was more dedicated to the craft itself, than the tools, but the tools are equally important for me.

I shoot with a Nikon D700 and it’s a great camera. A digital sensor physically equivalent to the original 35mm 24×36 format, which means that I can use all the Nikkor lenses made for the Nikon F-mount as it was originally intended, without a cropped view. More importantly though, there’s more bokeh when you operate at full-frame…. I’ll save that discussion for another post though, today I just want to share my lust for camera gear with you.

There’s an acronym on the web for this – G.A.S: Gear Acquisition Syndrome. It’s a full blown addiction. It starts with probably a perfect image taken with said equipment, be it a lens or a camera, and I’ll probably have seen it on flickr. And then I’ll probably google a review (my favourite so far is Steve Huff and my utter envy of his Leicas), and then after gathering all the relevant intel on the piece of kit; my life suddenly becomes a quest to acquire the Holy Grail. My current setup – whatever it may be – will never take photographs as I ‘intend’ it to, and my mind will be fantasizing about what my dream gear could do instead of what I have. My mind will be wandering until I finally surrender my credit card to the camera dealer. I’m a Nikon guy, very loyal to the brand having started out with the D40, made some video clips with the D90 before jumping into the full frame arena. I’ve also dabbled with a wide variety of lenses too, and like many just starting out, I was lured by the zoom-it-alls to my first prime, the nifty fifty. Today, I compliment my D700 with four prime lenses that covers the 24 to the 85 range, and it handles all my image making needs. I don’t shoot with zoom lenses.

Although, if we’re talking true gear love, then it’s got to be my Nikon FM2n. Fully manual film SLR, loaded with Kodak Portra 400VC or Tri-X 400, slap a 28 f2.8 on it and take on the streets… now that to me, is true photography.

This image was made with my FM2 and a 28mm, probably set at f4, probably zone focused to 1m and probably loaded with the cheapest film I could get at boots. I had it developed at my local sainsbury’s and it is untweaked, straight off the negative. Great isn’t it? Alas, there are times when I need to go digital, but my heart would always lean toward the FM2, the sheer joy of exposing film, is what makes photography so romantic. As we roll into 2010, high on my shopping list is the ultimate 35mm camera : The Leica. After going back and forth and back again, I’ve decided my first Leica should be a film one, the Leica M6 to be exact. To keep to a budget, I’m looking at 50mm ‘cron and lots and lots of rolls of tri-x 400.

This is shot with tri-x 400 with my FM2 at 28mm, probably at f8 and probably prefocused at 1m as well, but I don’t know. To quote a fellow aspiring photographer mate of mine, film just has a ‘look’ which digital can’t yet deliver. Of course, if we’re talking about signature looks, there is none more recognisable, or to be exact, quite as revered as the ‘Leica glow’. What’s their motto again, ‘You can always tell a Leica by the pictures it takes’ … or something. Anyway, I want it. I want a Leica, I will buy it in 2010, I intend to forge that ‘connection’ Leica photographers claim to have with their gear and I want to make photographs with soul and abit of glow.

Posted in Blog, Camera Equipment, right | 1 Comment »

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